Byers and others (Appellants) v Saudi National Bank (Respondent)
Case ID: 2022/0048
Case summary
Issue
Whether a claim in knowing receipt requires a claimant to prove a continuing proprietary interest in the property transferred to the defendant in breach of trust, in addition to knowledge on the part of the defendant so as to render his receipt unconscionable.
Facts
The appellants, SICL and its joint liquidators, issued proceedings alleging knowing receipt of trust property against SNB, the respondent, contending that a transfer of shares to Samba, a Saudi Arabian bank whose assets and liabilities were subsequently transferred to SNB, had been made in breach of trust and that Samba had known at the time of the transfer of the appellants' interest in the disputed securities and had incurred liability as a knowing recipient.
The judge found, inter alia, that the liability of a knowing recipient rested on his knowledge that the property he received was trust property and where a recipient was, from the outset, entitled to treat the property as his own, no liability arose. A claim in knowing receipt would, therefore, fail if, on receipt, the beneficiary's equitable proprietary interest was extinguished under the law applicable to the transfer and that since, as a matter of Saudi Arabian law, SICL had no continuing proprietary interest in the disputed securities after the transfer, the claim in knowing receipt failed.
The appellants' appeal to the Court of Appeal, contending that they were not required to demonstrate a continuing proprietary interest in the disputed securities to succeed in their claim, was dismissed. The appellants now appeal to the Supreme Court.
Judgment appealed
Parties
Appellant(s)
(1) Mark Byers
(2) Hugh Dickinson (as Joint Official Liquidators of Saad Investments Company Ltd)
(3) Saad Investments Company (in liquidation)
Respondent(s)
Saudi National Bank
Appeal
Justices
Lord Hodge, Lord Briggs, Lord Leggatt, Lord Burrows, Lord Stephens
Hearing start date
12 July 2023
Hearing finish date
13 July 2023